Doctor Who
Comics Comic strip adventures of The Doctor appeared almost from the beginning of the television series, first in the 1960s publication TV Comic, and during the 1970s in the mainly Gerry Anderson related comic Countdown, later renamed TV Action. After TV Action stopped publishing, the strip returned to TV Comic until 1978. Both the First and Second Doctors were, for a time, shown travelling with two youngsters named John and Gillian who are identified as the Doctor's grandchildren. Their place within established continuity has challenged fans ever since, although attempts have been made to reconcile their existence in various spin-off fiction venues. The regular Doctor Who Annuals from World Distributors published comics most years from the first annual until they ceased publication in 1985. A comic strip also regularly appeared in the pages of Doctor Who Magazine. This began as a Marvel comic under the name Doctor Who Weekly in 1979 (soon changing to Doctor Who Monthly), and the magazine continued to be published after the programme ceased production in 1989. The comic strip has usually featured the current Doctor in a series of adventures independent of the novels and the audios, and with another companion, though several crossovers with the worlds of the audio and literary Doctor Who and the comics have occurred. Creators who have worked on the DWM strip include such notables as writer Alan Moore and artists Dave Gibbons, Mike McMahon and John Ridgway. Selected stories were reprinted in North America by Marvel Comics, which was also the publisher of Doctor Who Magazine at the time. When DWM was published by Marvel, some characters occasionally crossed over between the Doctor Who comic and other titles published by Marvel UK; these include the froglike Venusian businessman Josiah Dogbolter and the robotic bounty hunter Death's Head. In the "Flood Barriers" feature in the trade paperback Doctor Who: The Flood, it is revealed the comic strip was given the opportunity to show the canonical regeneration of the Eighth Doctor into the Ninth Doctor. The publishers of Doctor Who Magazine have also produced a number of special issues, annuals, and other publications containing comics. Two short-lived spin-off series, Miranda from Comeuppance Comics and Faction Paradox from Mad Norwegian Press, have also appeared, both featuring characters who had debuted in Doctor Who novels. Doctor Who Magazine, which is now owned by Panini Comics continues to produce new comic strip adventures. Panini has also begun to reprint the early DWM strips in trade paperback format. At the height of "Dalekmania" in the 1960s, a comic strip featuring the Daleks written by David Whitaker but credited to Terry Nation appeared in the Gerry Anderson TV Century 21 comic magazine.Haining 1988, p 182 The BBC also published a number of Dalek annuals, written by Whitaker and Nation that contained a mixture of comic strips and short stories. Although much of the material in these strips directly contradicted what was shown on television later, some concepts like the Daleks using humanoid duplicates and the design of the Dalek Emperor did show up later on in the programme. The strip also featured the Mechanoids, seen in The Chase, and one annual featured Sara Kingdom and the Space Security Service. In 2005 a webcomic called The Forge: project Longinus, written by Cavan Scott and Mark Wright and illustrated by Bryan Coyle was produced as a spin-off from Scott and Wright's Big Finish Productions Doctor Who audio dramas, and contained a number of unofficial references to the Doctor Who universe. IDW series At the 2007 San Diego Comic-Con International, IDW Publishing announced their intention to publish a new series of Doctor Who comics, which would follow the adventures of the Tenth Doctor and Martha Jones. The series was scripted by Gary Russell, with art by Nick Roche, and was slated to launch later that year. It was to be composed of new material as well as republished Dave Gibbons-drawn comics, each featuring all-new coloring. Subsequently, this was split into two publications titled Doctor Who, a six-issue mini-series, and Doctor Who Classics respectively. A second mini-series, Doctor Who: The Forgotten, by Tony Lee and Pia Guerra, began its release in August 2008 and deals with the Tenth Doctor recalling previous Doctors' adventures as an aid to fight off forced amnesia.The Timeline Of A Time Lord: Lee talks "Doctor Who", Comic Book Resources, June 26, 2008Tony Lee and The Doctors in the House, Newsarama, July 14, 2008 Married writing team John Reppion and Leah Moore, together with artist Ben Templesmith, did a one-shot called "The Whispering Gallery", which was released in February 2009.Moore & Reppion on “Doctor Who: Whispering Gallery”, Comic Book Resources, December 17, 2008 This was the first in a series of one-shots, including The Time Machination, by Tony Lee and Paul Grist, in May 2009, and Autopia, by John Ostrander and Kelly Yates, in June. At the New York Comic Con in February 2009, it was announced Tony Lee would be the writer of an ongoing Doctor Who series at IDW.NYCC '09 - IDW - Dr Who Monthly and More, Newsarama, February 7, 2009 Titan series On January 21, 2014, BBC Worldwide and Titan Comics announced a new deal to publish Doctor Who inedited stories featuring the Tenth, Eleventh and the Twelfth Doctor.DOCTOR WHO REGENERATES WITH TITAN COMICS, Titan Comics, January 21, 2014 References